Ron Artest of the Los Angeles Lakers has joined Charles Barkley in opining that free agent-to-be LeBron James should remain with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“He should stay where he is, he should stay in Cleveland,” Artest told the Daily News Wednesday after practice at Staples Center. “He’s done great things in Cleveland. Why leave?”
Artest, 30, was careful to say that he did not tell James to stay away from New York. And he did not repeat his theory from last November, that the Knicks could be hurt in recruiting free agents because marquee players are “so scared of the pressure and the media” in New York.
“I don’t know what he’s going to do,” Artest said. “But he should stay.”